Recap by phillip woo

Country Charm was given an uncontested lead from gate 14 through even sections, straightened three lengths on top and kept finding to score a shock victory. Firming favourite Sunny Pearl was gifted a perfect run in second, straightened one off the fence and couldn't claw back the margin on the winner with every chance. Punted late, Forever Ahead settled third from the rear and along the fence, came one-to-two off upon straightening and finished up nicely for third at the 100m with a move to pacifiers. Impeccable settled fourth and one off the fence, rallied five wide upon straightening and kept plugging away late to just hold Danewin Tiger for fourth. Danewin Tiger settled underneath Impeccable in the run, straightened three deep with every chance and whacked on rather one-paced. Cool Bean swung the final bend with one wider out and made some ground late without menacing. Twin Turbo was switched off second from the rear and one off the fence from gate 11, and was working home with some purpose when the race was all but over with late-market action.

Racing Incident Report

Near the 1100 Metres, HIT A HOME RUN, which was proving difficult to settle, blundered when racing close to the heels of ELECTRONIC FORTUNE.

Near the 600 Metres, HIT A HOME RUN became unbalanced when again awkwardly placed close to the heels of ELECTRONIC FORTUNE.

Passing the 600 Metres, FOREVER AHEAD was steadied away from the heels of FLYING ELITE.

Approaching the 200 Metres, SUNNY PEARL got its head on the side and lay in under pressure.

Throughout the race, HONG KONG FAT travelled wide and without cover.

When questioned, M L Yeung stated that he had been instructed to allow FOREVER AHEAD to begin and then ride the horse where it was comfortable which was expected to be in a position midfield or just in advance of midfield.

He said that he had been advised that the horse had struck interference in its only two race starts and it was imperative that he had the horse settled in todays race.

He said after being crowded for room shortly after the start between SUNNY PEARL and HONG KONG FAT, FOREVER AHEAD travelled further back in the field than had been anticipated, however, when ridden in his manner FOREVER AHEAD finished off the race strongly.

He added that he did not use the whip on FOREVER AHEAD in the Straight until the concluding stages as the horse was finishing off the race as strongly as it was able in the circumstances.

When questioned regarding TWIN TURBO being ridden back in the field today, Trainer Y S Tsui stated that in its recent runs when being ridden in forward positions, TWIN TURBO, whilst racing consistently, had disappointed him in the manner in which it had closed off its races.

He said due to TWIN TURBOs wide barrier today, he instructed Z Purton to ride the horse from off the speed as he anticipated that there would be sufficient pace in todays race.

He said he expected COUNTRY CHARM, from barrier 14, to be ridden to obtain a forward position as well as GOOD TIMES ROLL which had been ridden in forward positions in its barrier trials leading up to todays race.

He said because of this, from barrier 11, he felt that TWIN TURBO may not be able to close off its race if ridden to obtain a forward position and it would be in the horses best interests for it to be ridden more conservatively in the hope that it would be able to close off the race strongly.

He added that in its race at Sha Tin on 28 October 2012, considerable use had to be made of the horse, from barrier 14, to cross runners to its inside and obtain a forward position and in its next race on Good to Yielding surface the horse again had to be ridden along in the early stages to obtain a forward position.

He said however that todays race did not generate as much speed as he anticipated which made it difficult for TWIN TURBO to finish off the race as well as he had hoped.

After the race, W C Marwing (GOOD TIMES ROLL) reported that his saddle shifted forward shortly after the start.

A veterinary inspection of DRAGON PINS after the race did not show any significant findings.